Every Time She Falls
by Cptn. Suz
Summary: ON HIATUS -“You’ve been struck by lightning before?” WHAT! JEANNIE DIDN’T TELL YOU THAT STORY? Contains: McWeir friendship & eventual ship, McKay whump, future AU after 'Submersion.' More detailed rating, summary & spoiler info inside each chapter.
1. Nee Weir

**Title:** Every Time She Falls

**Chapter 1**: Nee Weir

**Author:** CptnSuz

**Series' Song of Inspiration: **She Will Be Loved –Maroon 5

**Chapter Rating:** T –for language (nothing worse than in the show!) and brief innuendo

**Chapter Summary:** Rodney & Elizabeth head off-world, talk with a botanist, visit a very old monument and get stuck in the rain. Also contains: snark, McWeir friendship, AU starting sometime after 'Sunday'

**Spoilerage in this Chapter:** (major) none, (minor) Duet, The Game, Sunday

**Disclaimer:** I make no claims of ownership on Stargate Atlantis or its characters. Title inspired by Maroon 5 lyrics. No infringements intended.

* * *

"Honestly, John. I'll be fine." Elizabeth Sheppard nee Weir disengaged from her husband's arms with a smile. John Sheppard still looked uneasy as he reluctantly released her. 

"Of course she'll be fine," resounded from a few feet away. Dr. Rodney McKay stood tapping his foot impatiently waiting for the PDA to end. "The planet's safe -- the beta site's safe. We have people living there!"

"You promise you'll look after her?" John pestered Rodney with all the anxiety of the newly-wed that he was.

"Yeah, I promise. Let's go!" Rodney waved his hand in a circle. "Wasting daylight! Let's go!"

Elizabeth gave John one last peck on the cheek and stepped through the stargate, closely followed by Rodney.

Later

"Wow. I always forget how spectacular it is here!" Elizabeth stood awe-struck, gazing at the nearby waterfalls. The water splashed down just meters away, and there the river formed a significant pool before coursing around the side of the ruins surrounding the stargate. Just beyond the fallen sandstone columns she could see water-lily-like flowers floating, and everywhere she looked there were miniature rainbows from the water droplets that pervaded the air.

"Yes. Well, it is." Rodney stood just at her side, tapping at the screen of his trusty little lifesigns-detector/energy-source-finder/map/anything-he-needed-it-for device.

"Do people come here to swim?" she asked spontaneously.

"We live in the middle of an ocean."

"I meant in fresh water."

"Hmm. Oh, probably... except for Zelenka."

Rodney looked up at her quizzically. Elizabeth rewarded him with one of her trademark eyebrow-raises, and was going to offer him some poignant remark when Dr. Parrish came trotting up, waving and nodding to the marines stationed by the gate.

"I thought Katie was going to meet us too?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Yeah, but we were kind of hoping to get out of the hike... We are in the middle of... well; it is completely the most amazing instance of inter-species pollination via..." Parrish responded breathily.

Rodney raised a dismissive hand. "Please spare us if you can't talk any faster."

Parrish had a hurt look on his face. And Elizabeth responded with a sharp, "Rodney!" and her angry furrowed eyebrows. "Please continue," she turned back to Parrish.

The botanist shrugged. "Anyway, neither of us particularly wanted to leave so we drew straws to see who would come ask if we could stay and continue the study." At this Rodney rolled his eyes in his usual elaborate manner that didn't even need words to be thoroughly insulting. "I mean, there's not any reason she wouldn't want to see _you_," Parrish finished, speaking pointedly to Rodney.

Rodney flinched slightly. That was a low blow, especially to an ego already bruised from his falling out with Katie Brown and her quick rebound into the arms of her fellow botanist, Dr. Parrish. He recovered with a snarky retort, "Well then we shouldn't keep you from studying the birds and the bees as it were."

Parrish was man enough not to respond to that comment. He merely looked to Elizabeth, who nodded in dismissal, and he was jogging back out to the field. She turned back to Rodney. "So where are we headed?"

"Ah, yes. The Ancient monument. It's about two point four kilometers this way." He started off at a brisk walk and Elizabeth followed.

Later

"You weren't kidding when you said it was a strenuous hike," Elizabeth spoke between breaths as they paused on a small level spot.

"Ha," Rodney swatted at some flying insects. He was obviously relishing being the most physically fit member of their two-person expedition. Since he was not breathing nearly as hard, he had no trouble rattling on about all and sundry during their hike, nay, ascent thus far along the goat-trail of a path.

"Are you sure there are no other ways up? Even if a 'jumper couldn't land?" she asked.

"Not unless you enjoy rock-climbing." Rodney smirked a little. "Anyway, I'm surprised Sheppard actually let you come. I didn't think he bought your line about 'needing to see the Ancient writing in context'."

"He didn't. He wanted to come too. I had to pull rank on him... so to speak, convince him to stay on Atlantis since both you and I were going off-world. Since we got married, John's been even more protective..."

"Can you blame him?" Rodney offered his hand to help Elizabeth scramble up a patch of loose gravel. "After all the people we've lost? And what happened with Earth? Teyla and Ronon moving back to live with the Athosians... And Beckett..." They both went silent for a while.

"We're almost to the top. Ten more minutes." Rodney announced. They didn't look anywhere near the summit. Elizabeth sighed and urged her tired legs on. The trip back down didn't even hazard thinking about right now.

True to his word, after ten minutes the trees miraculously ceased and they were on flat ground, facing the monument. The large dark edifice loomed up, casting them in its shadow. "My god, it looks like the Lincoln Memorial!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Rodney snorted. "That's what Sheppard said when he saw it too. I was thinking more mausoleum."

"It doesn't look like Ancient architecture."

"That's what I thought. It's carved right out of the dioritic base rock of the mountain... but the writing here, here," he gestured with his hands, "All along here... looks like Ancient script or at least someone's best stab at it."

Later

Wandering around the structure, running her fingers along the etched symbols, the linguist in Elizabeth was entranced. An hour and a half in and the screen of her tablet PC was covered in scribbled notes. She felt a brief tickle on her scalp but ignored it. Then something wet touched her ear. And then a couple of raindrops lazily splashed down on the screen.

Rain? She glanced skyward and received a fat raindrop between the eyes for her efforts. It looked to be an enormous thundercloud though.

Hugging her tablet to protect it from the rain, Elizabeth ran for the shelter of the building. Thunder clapped and the downpour started just as she reached it. Inside it was dark and smelled slightly chalky. She waited from her eyes to adjust. "Rodney?"

A grunt returned from somewhere in front of her. So she slowly shuffled forward. "Rodney?" Another grunt and Elizabeth bumped against a stone wall and turned to where the noise came from. There she found the missing physicist hunched over his own computer. He was chuckling.

"Something funny?"

"Wha? Oh, no. I was just waiting. Bored. Killing time before I could justifiably pester you into leaving."

"I thought there was a power signature you were looking at?"

"Hardly worth the second hike up here." Rodney rubbed a hand over the surface of the wall and some writing began to faintly appear. "Ancient glowy platitudes."

Elizabeth had to agree on that. She was getting a bit tired of finding these hermit houses.

"So what was funny then?"

"Oh, ah," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just working on... something... a pet project."

"And which one..."

"Okay, fine! I was writing new levels for our game!"

"Game?"

"The one I…" Rodney's voice got quieter as he went on, "And Sheppard… and Zelenka… and Lorne made."

"Which is?"

Rodney seemed to grow even more embarrassed.

"A first-person shooter set on a fully-interactive and photorealistic Atlantis."

Something clicked in Elizabeth's mind and she could not help smirking in the dark. "So that's why you guys have been so eager to explore the rest of the city?"

She could barely hear Rodney's weak reply in the affirmative.

"Uhm, what did you come in here for?" the scientist inquired.

"Oh, I just came to say that it is pouring."

"Crap. It was clear when we got up here. Are you sure?" He started scrambling around for his backpack.

"Am I sure? I was the one outside, Rodney."

"Fine, fine. Then we need to start hiking down the mountain right now."

Rodney hefted his pack on.

"Why?" Elizabeth demanded. Her chief scientist could be quite uninformative unless she pushed for more.

Rodney paused at the entrance, dimly backlit through the rain. He took her computer from her hands, powered it down, and put it away in her backpack as he started talking. "Because after about a half hour, these storms have a habit of getting severely electrical. And we are on top of a very tall mountain, taller than anything else around. Weather 101: Lighting likes to hit tall things. Plus lots of rain might wash out the trail." He paused for a moment while she pulled on her pack. "Consequently, unless you want to chance electrocution and possibly being stuck up here, we are leaving NOW." He grabbed her thin, clammy hand in his warm, meatier one and tugged her out of the shelter into the inundation.

* * *

**AN 1/20/07:**

1) A pretty paltry cliff-hanger, I know. They'll get better, I promise :-)

2) All reviews are welcome. I don't usually write for the main characters so any comments good/bad about characterization are particularly welcome.

3) If you see great potential in this story, I'd love to have a beta-reader. Just let me know somehow if you are interested.

4) 'She Will Be Loved' is totally a McWeir song! If someone made a video with it I would give them the biggest e-hug ever!

5) Sparky, Shweir, and Sheppard die-hards, you will not like where I'm taking this story. I'll leave it at that.

6) I know I have a very bad habit of letting stories die after posting the first chapter. I do already more bits and pieces written. Please review if you want to see it live.

7) Okay, I'm done.


	2. Slipped, Slid, Soaked, Struck

**Title:** Every Time She Falls

**Chapter 2**: Slipped, Slid, Soaked, Struck

**Author:** CptnSuz

**Series' Song of Inspiration: **She Will Be Loved –Maroon 5

**Chapter Rating:** K+ -for intense sequences

**Chapter Summary:** Rodney & Elizabeth are hurrying back to the gate. Along the way they get dirty and play too close with lightning. Also contains: McWeir friendship, future AU after 'Submersion'

**Spoilerage in this Chapter:** (major) none, (minor) none

**Disclaimer:** I make no claims of ownership on Stargate Atlantis or its characters. Title inspired by Maroon 5 lyrics. No infringements intended.

* * *

"That lightning was really close!!"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"I SAID – THE LIGHTNING IS CLOSE!!"

"I KNOW! HURRY UP!" Rodney yelled irately, motioning with his arms for her to keep moving down the scrabble of rocks.

Heart pounding in her chest, Elizabeth braced and lowered herself down over another boulder. Had it been this hard going up? She didn't think so. But then the rocks weren't slick from the rain, and they hadn't been trying to hurry either.

Almost down, almost down, she repeated mentally.

Then Elizabeth was off the boulder pile and following Rodney down the trail. Her knee was bothering her though, and she started to lag behind.

"Elizabeth!" Rodney glared up at her from the lower half of the switchback they were on. "We need to keep moving!" He looked positively riled, standing in his drenched-through uniform.

"My knee…" she started to say. The rest never came out as her weight broke down the soggy trail edge. Elizabeth wavered a moment, trying to pull back from the mud that her boot was stuck in. Without regard for her interests, her leg continued to slip and she tumbled over, joining the muddy mess in careening down the hillside.

All manner of things were whipping her face. Her limbs flung around out of her control. Elizabeth lost all sense of direction. She impacted something hard that knocked the air out of her lungs and a moment later she came to a stop.

Rodney had somehow snagged her by the waist as she fell past, Elizabeth realized as she raised herself on elbows.

"Owww," the mud beside her groaned. Arms retracted to cradle his own head; apparently Rodney had fallen down in the process. "You're not as light as you look."

"I had momentum."

"That's not fair," he sputtered, "The physics answers are mine," then let himself fall back into the soupy dirt.

Elizabeth rested on her forearms for a couple of minutes. They weren't even halfway down the mountain. Exhaustion raked her muscles. Taking a deep breath, she rolled back into a crouch, then stood up.

"Come on." She tugged her chief scientist up by the arm, a very wet and dirty arm to be sure.

Later

"Our radios aren't working; shouldn't we head to the camp?"

"Listen! We are cold. We are completely wet. The lightning is almost right on top of us. I don't want to walk another kilometer that way!" Rodney pointed beyond the gate.

Elizabeth brushed wet locks of hair futilely out of her face. They had paused at the forest's edge where the trees still afforded a modicum of protection. She glanced longingly in the direction of the camp. Still, Rodney was right; the lightning was deafeningly close, and the wind had picked up, plastering their sodden, filthy clothes against them. As much as she'd love to follow protocol and check in with the beta-site personnel before leaving, it would be foolhardy to trek across open grasslands during a lightning storm just to do so.

"Alright, fine! Dial Atlantis and we'll radio them as soon as we get back!"

Rodney raised his hands in relief that she had conceded the argument. Leaving her at the tree line, the physicist dashed out and hurriedly pressed the Atlantis address into the DHD.

It seemed to be taking longer than Elizabeth remembered. Blinking away raindrops, she pushed her hair back with one hand and tried to watch Rodney's actions between the opaque sheets of rain plummeting down. One, two, three times, he pounded on the center control but it refused to glow or engage the stargate. He shouted something back at her but Elizabeth couldn't hear.

**BOOM!**

There was no delay between the flash and crash of that lightning strike. Elizabeth involuntarily flinched away. It was definitely not safe out in the open anymore. She suddenly recalled with horror all the times her scientists had expounded on the superconductivity of the gate, and moved a few steps out to shout at Rodney. He had the DHD access panel open now and was crouching to look inside. She had to get his attention. But even as Elizabeth summoned the words in her throat…

**BOOM!**

lightning struck the DHD and Rodney was sent sprawling onto his back several meters away, unmoving.

* * *

AN 2-16-07:

Hehe, a cliffhanger!

I still have no beta-reader. I know this was a short chapter, but I do have all the major points of this story written –I just have to connect them all, which is like pulling my own teeth. Reviews are love.


	3. Beta Camp

**Title:** Every Time She Falls

**Chapter 3**: Beta Camp

**Author:** CptnSuz

**Chapter Rating:** K+ -for intense sequences

**Chapter Summary:** Rodney survives another near-death experience. Rodney & Elizabeth discover not all is aright at the beta camp & run into an old acquaintance. Also contains: McWeir friendship, McKay whump, future AU after 'Submersion'

**Spoilerage in this Chapter:** (major) none, (minor) First Strike

**Series' Song of Inspiration: **She Will Be Loved –Maroon 5

**Disclaimer:** I make no claims of ownership on Stargate Atlantis or its characters. Title inspired by Maroon 5 lyrics. No infringements intended.

* * *

There were a modest handful of instances when time had seemed to slow down for Elizabeth. Usually they involved something momentous –when she heard that Simon was dating someone else –when Kolya held a gun to her head –when Beckett had died. But for all of Rodney's flirting with death, he had never triggered such an experience for her… until he was struck by lightning.

The next five seconds seemed decades long before her feet responded, and she went flying towards him. Rodney wasn't breathing and he had no pulse; Elizabeth knelt and started CPR. He's not going to die. He's not going to die, she repeated to herself. Thankfully, Rodney did not disappoint, and Elizabeth had the opportunity to be grateful for Dr. Keller's insistence on mandatory first-aid trainings.

Poor Rodney looked about still quite dazed. "What happened?" he slurred out.

"You were hit by lightning!" Elizabeth responded.

"WHAT?"

"You were hit by lightning," she shouted again.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Elizabeth grimaced. "You were hit by lightning," she said right next to his ear, "And I think your eardrums were ruptured too!"

He could have other injuries too, she realized, but they couldn't stay out in the open either.

"Can you get up and walk?" she spoke again in Rodney's ear.

Rodney started to sit up, only making it halfway before deciding that was a bad idea at the current time. "Then there's nothing for it; I'll have to drag you," Elizabeth stated.

Indeed, the statement was easier than the deed. Nevertheless, Elizabeth managed to tug Rodney's protesting form inch-by-grudging-inch back out of the meadow into the trees. Propping him against a short sapling, Elizabeth sank down beside him.

"C-C-C-COLD!" he chattered. Sighing, as she wasn't particularly warm either, Elizabeth embraced the shivering scientist, rubbing his back and trying to impart some kind of warmth in the ongoing deluge of rain. What a horrendous mess this little field trip had turned into. She just wanted to be back on Atlantis, curled up on her sofa with John and a steaming mug of Athosian tea.

Later

"LO!? 'ELLO!?" Rodney poked at the back of Elizabeth's head with a gentle but persistent finger.

"Unh." Elizabeth roused her head a little, then jerked back from here she'd been sleeping against Rodney's chest. A bit flustered, she turned the attention back on Rodney, "How are you feeling?"

"BETTER!" he shouted almost cheerfully, "WE SLEPT THROUGH THE REST OF THE STORM! NOW WE JUST NEED TO HEAD OVER TO THE CAMP, FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY DID WITH THE MAIN CONTROL CRYSTAL."

"What?" Now it was Elizabeth's turn to be quizzical.

"CONTROL CRYSTALS! THAT'S WHY THE DHD ISN'T WORKING! SOMEONE TOOK OUT THE MAIN CONTROL CRYSTAL."

"Why would they do that?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?" Rodney infused sarcasm into his shouting. "LOOK, SOME HELP UP HERE?" He extended his hand out to Elizabeth, then frowned in consternation when she blanched away from it.

"WHAT IS IT?!" he asked frantically, speedily retracting his arm.

"Stop yelling and look at your hand."

"I'M NOT YELLING!"

"Yes, you are," Elizabeth insisted, tapping her own ear as a reminder. Rodney gave a silent 'oh' in remembrance. "What is wrong with your hand?"

Rodney peered down at his palm, "Ah… Hmmm…" and tentatively prodded the reddish, fernlike pattern.

"Yes?" she prompted.

"IT'S A LICHTENBERG FIGURE. THEY HAPPEN WHEN LIGHTNING PASSES THROUGH THE BODY. CAPILLARIES BURSTING AND SUCH…"

"But it's not dangerous?" she questioned, cautiously grabbing his hand and hauling them both upright.

"HURTS BUT GOES AWAY… I'VE HAD ONE BEFORE…"

"You've been struck by lightning before?!"

"WHAT! JEANNIE DIDN'T TELL YOU THAT STORY?! LUCKY ME – NO, I'M MORE WORRIED ABOUT THE POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO MY HEART, MY NERVOUS SYSTEM, MY BRAIN!" he emphasized.

"Your ears," Elizabeth added.

"WHAT?"

"Nevermind," she answered more loudly, "If you think you can walk, we should head towards the camp before they send out search parties looking for us."

Rodney nodded in agreement, but, as soon as he was standing, he started off in the wrong direction. "Where are you going?" Elizabeth shouted, hurrying after him; her clothes stiff and awkward from the caked-on dried mud and dirt. "Rodney!?"

"PACKS…" He beat around in the underbrush until he found where they had deposited their backpacks hours before. Crouching down, Rodney began to paw through the compartments of his pack, searching for something.

Sighing, Elizabeth dipped an arm to scoop up her own pack and slid it on. "We could come back and get these later…"

The scientist didn't respond to this. Elizabeth couldn't tell if he genuinely couldn't hear her or was ignoring her purposeful as he was wont to do. A minute later her curiosity was whetted when Rodney donned his backpack and rose, a triumphant grin on his face and a PowerBar in hand.

Later

It took longer than Elizabeth had anticipated to cross the last kilometer to the camp. Despite Rodney's protests that he was fine, she could see he was still feeling the after-effects of conducting a large bolt of electricity to ground. With much reticence on his part, Elizabeth had gotten Rodney to put an arm over her shoulder to help him along –which, combined with her complaining knee, slowed her down considerably.

Now as they approached the edge of camp, the sun was setting in brilliant reds and purples.

"WHERE IS EVERYBODY?" Rodney asked the obvious.

The situation wasn't sitting well with Elizabeth either, but she didn't stop Rodney from disengaging his arm from her shoulder and shuffling over to the Quonset hut designated as the laboratory. She shivered, and decided to check out the other buildings while the scientist was occupied. Maybe she'd find a clue as to where everyone had gone. At the very least she could find the first-aid kit for Rodney and something to eat for the both of them.

With a bit more resolve, Elizabeth started with the sleeping quarters. The easy assumption that all the personnel were sleeping was quickly forfeited. Completely alone in the dark building, she fumbled with the light switch but the overhead light wouldn't come on. In a few minutes her eyes had adjusted anyway, Elizabeth peered around in the twilight. At first glance everything looked normal, used, slightly-messy, but not at odds, still… all the drawers and storage tubs looked rifled through. After a cursory examination, she upgraded her assessment to pillaged. Anything remotely useful for trade was gone. Disquieted feelings walked up her spine. It was reminiscent of find one's home broken into and pilfered for valuables. Time to find Rodney.

The lab was also dark.

"Rodney? Are you in here?"

"YES! GEEZ, ELIZABETH, YOU COULD GIVE ME LONGER –I'VE HARDLY HAD TIME TO START LOOKING FOR THE CRYSTAL."

"I know, the lights aren't working in here either?"

"NO. THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I CHECKED. SOME IDIOT LET THE GENERATOR GET HIT BY LIGHTNING. TOASTED THE PHASE-SHIFTING DEVICE TOO. NOW IF THEY HAD SHIFTED OUT OF PHASE DURING THE STORM NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE SUCH IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY IN THE HANDS OF BIOLOGISTS."

As he paused for a breath, Elizabeth cut in. "Rodney, something is wrong here. None of the site personnel are around, the sleeping quarters were ransacked…"

"I WAS STARTING TO WONDER WHY THE LAB WAS SUCH A MESS!"

"Yes, well, I think we should check out the main building. If no one is there, maybe we can at least get something to eat while we figure out what to do." The opportunity for food perked up the astrophysicist. Rodney gladly abandoned his futile search for the control crystal and followed Elizabeth like a puppy over to the largest Quonset hut.

The light was so dim outside now that their eyes hardly needed time to adjust to see inside the building.

"Oh God," Elizabeth backpedaled away from the door. The faint beginnings of a stench were enough to make her stomach start heaving. Her knees were going too, and she sank down to the gravel.

Rodney lingered a moment longer in the doorway. Then he let the door slam shut again and knelt next to Elizabeth. "It's okay," he tried to comfort her, pulling her hair back from her face. "I mean, it's not okay, they shouldn't have died like that, but you'll be okay. You don't really see this on Atlantis like we do on missions –people, our people, being shot and massacred and stuff – you get used to it, or I have, err, well, you shouldn't have to…" He trailed off, unable to come up with the right words.

Which is why they could hear the crunch of gravel as someone walked up to them in the darkness. The scope-light of a gun was suddenly blazing into their faces, and a familiar voice called out, "Well, Doctors Weir and McKay! Didn't expect to see you here!"

* * *

**AN:** First, a huge big 'THANK YOU!' to Asdeed for beta-reading! Second, to the readership, after much procrastination –and then procrastination of other things when I finally got around to writing –I leave you with another cliffhanger! All comments, criticism & guesses as to the acquaintance's identity are welcome! 


End file.
